


On The Run

by Seicchanart



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan)
Genre: F/M, Implied Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26840767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seicchanart/pseuds/Seicchanart
Summary: An unexpected event and a nightly visitor make Rachel question things.
Relationships: Jonathan Crane/Rachel Dawes
Comments: 7
Kudos: 8





	On The Run

_Tick tick tick_

The sound of her clock was unbearably loud. Rachel rolled over onto her side. For the last few hours, ever since she had gotten home, she hadn’t been able to calm down. Her thoughts were all over the place, but at the same time her head felt unbearably empty. Was it really that hard to wrap her head around what had happened that day? She cursed under her breath.

_Tick tick tick_

Apparently it was. It wasn’t even that complicated, really. What actually happened wasn’t very complicated, that is. But Rachel’s feelings on that matter definitely were. She remembered walking home, wished she could turn back time and do the opposite of what she’s done. She remembered hearing some sort of struggle in an alleyway. She saw Bruce, no, Batman, fighting what must’ve been some criminals.

Rachel really wished she hadn’t gotten involved. It wasn’t like she didn’t trust Bruce to take care of the situation, she knew he was more than capable. But something called her into that alley, willed her to watch what was happening. She told herself she wanted to make sure Bruce would be okay.

And then she went in and she saw _him_ and only that one glance had made her scream.

The people Bruce was fighting noticed her, and Bruce noticed her too, but it was too late. She heard a gunshot and Rachel prepared herself to die. _What a pointless death._ , she remembered thinking. _I’m sorry, Bruce._

But she hadn’t died. Instead, her body had hit the ground hard and she had caught a glimpse of a burlap mask and the bright blue eyes behind it. The same eyes that had made her scream. Then he was gone.

She was safe. He had saved her. Dr Crane - no, Scarecrow - had saved her.

Rachel stared at the ceiling as the loud ticking of her clock brought her out of her daydreams. Her head was spinning. It was really simple, what had happened. She had been stupid, and reckless, and someone had saved her life. 

But why? She remembered his eyes, the brightest blue she had ever seen before, remembered her own feelings of disdain she had held for the man, even before he had poisoned her with his toxin ( _Trying to kill you._ , she reminded herself. _And now he saved you..._ ). Even before she had tazed him right in his face.

Rachel had thought her feelings of disdain were returned. Crane had never acted like he cared about her even in the slightest.

_Obviously not. He tried to kill you._

Perhaps his feelings for her were as complicated as the ones she had for him? She slapped her hands onto her cheeks at this thought.

 _Rachel Dawes, what is wrong with you? Your feelings on him aren’t_ complicated, _you hate the man!_

With that, she rolled over again, deciding to go to sleep. To just stop thinking about the whole ordeal. 

When she heard a sudden tap on her window join the now more silent ticking of her clock, Rachel felt her blood freeze over. She jumped up from her bed and quickly turned her head towards the window. She lived quite high up. It couldn’t be-

But there he was. Even though it was dark outside, even though she could only make out his silhouette in her window, she knew immediately who was sitting there on her windowsill. The tapping came again, and hesitantly, she stood up and opened her window.

Crane climbed in with a grace that surprised her. She could see him more clearly now, illuminated by the small lamp on her bedside table. He ruffled his hand through his hair, probably to get it out of his face, and looked at her.

“Miss Dawes.” His voice was neutral, but a small grin decorated his face. “Good evening.”

Her hands balled up to fists. Just who did he think he was?

“What makes you think I won’t call the police on you?”, she hissed.

His eyebrow quirked up at that, but his goddamn smug smile didn’t disappear. She saw his eyes glint with something dangerous and she choked on her breath. Crane leaned back against the wall - _her_ wall, in _her_ apartment, and chuckled as her cheeks darkened.

“Well…”, his eyes trailed off to the side, and Rachel felt relief washing over her. Relief to not be trapped in his brilliant eyes anymore. “I _did_ save your life tonight.”

The room fell silent for a few seconds. 

_Tick tick tick_

God, she was so close to ripping that clock down and crushing it underneath her foot. She felt anger and annoyance rush through her veins, anger at this man in front of her, anger at herself for she was just _letting_ him stand there. But she was also confused, and really, really tired. Her hands relaxed, if only a little bit.

“Yeah, that. Why did you do that?”

He was still looking somewhere else, and Rachel was very thankful for it. She hated how his eyes had the ability to cage her in, to steal her breath, to make her heart race. Finally, he shrugged.

“Do you _really_ want to know that?” 

He grinned at her again. _That smug asshole._ She stepped closer to him, her anger returning.

“Leave.”

He lifted both his arms at that and laughed quietly.

“Hey, easy now. I was actually just visiting to ask if I may use your bathroom. With you owing me…”

That made Rachel stop in her tracks. Her eyebrows knitted together.

“What…?”

He ruffled his hand through his hair once again, and only now did Rachel notice how dishevelled he was. He was wearing a suit (She knew the suit, she noticed. She had seen him in it before.), but it looked dirty and was torn in some places, nevermind that it had already looked old when he still had his job. His hair was a bit longer than she remembered and unkempt, and he was unshaven. Furthermore, Crane looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

“Your bathroom, yes. You know, I haven’t had a good shower in some time, being on the run and all…”, he trailed off again and Rachel gave a defeated sigh. 

What had she gotten herself into? Why was she letting him get away with this?

“Do you have any spare clothes?”

His grin returned to his face at that and he leaned forward. Close, way too close. Always way too close.

“Do I look like I do?”

Rachel didn’t give an answer. He lifted one eyebrow.

“Why?”

She rolled her eyes.

“You can’t change back into _these_. I’m gonna have to wash them.”

His grin got wider at that and she felt the sudden urge to slap him.

“How will I have a chance at escape if you call the police and my clothes are in your wash?”

She turned around, going to get her shoes.

“You’ll just have to trust me.”, she said, tone full of bite.

“Where are you going?”

“I-”, she grabbed her keys. “Am going to get you a razor.”

\----------------

Rachel awoke to the quiet sound of fabric rustling. She sat up slowly, feeling the blanket slide down the skin of her chest. It was warm, and she was still feeling groggy.

As she looked up she saw Crane standing in front of her bed, angled slightly away from her. He was getting dressed in washed clothes, which he had apparently taken out of her dryer while she had been asleep. 

His head quirked towards her as he noticed that she had woken up.

“Good morning, Miss Dawes.”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the blanket to pull it up again. As she put down her hand to lean on it, she noticed the mattress beside her was still warm. So he hadn’t been up all that long, after all.

“Are you leaving?”

Crane had just finished buttoning up his shirt and grabbed his jacket. Then, he turned to face her and she could swear she saw his features soften. His hair was still messy from sleep but other than that he looked far better than he had yesterday evening. Which was probably obvious, given that he had taken a shower, shaved and… gotten a night’s rest.

“Yes.”, he answered curtly. “Though I thank you for your… hospitality.”

Rachel ignored his very obvious sarcastic undertone.

“Don’t expect this to happen again. Next time, I _will_ call the police.”, she said, tone a lot sharper than she felt.

Crane shrugged at that and walked over to the window. _Out the way you came, huh, Doctor?_ He gripped the handle while Rachel quickly jumped out of bed and walked up behind him. A shiver went through her body when he opened the window and the cool morning air of Gotham hit her skin. He swung one leg over the windowsill and Rachel swallowed heavily.

“Don’t die out there, alright?”

He leaned his head to the side and looked at her through his glasses, rather thoughtfully. Then, another smug grin spread over his face. 

“Not to worry. I wasn’t planning to.”

She wanted to hit him for that, and for the grin, but she didn’t. Instead she watched silently as he swung his other leg over the windowsill as well.

“See you around, Miss Dawes.”

And with that, he vanished. After a few seconds she closed the window behind him with a sigh. 

_See you around indeed, Dr Crane._

**Author's Note:**

> My hyperfixation held me at gunpoint and forced me to write this.


End file.
